The Lioness, The Warden and The Will to Survive
by onepromise
Summary: Femslash. Swan Queen set in a Harry Potter AU in Book 7. Regina Mills is a young Death Eater working her way up the ranks of The Dark Lords followers. Emma's parents are members of The Order. To set an example Emma is captured on her way home for the holidays, where she reveals she holds a key piece of information in the War of Good and Evil.
1. Chapter 1

**Spoilers**: Everywhere. Just all over the place probably. Spoiled rotten. Does anyone even read this part? I don't. Let me know, I'm curious...

**Disclaimer**: Once belongs to A&amp;E, HP belongs to JKR. I own nothing. I don't even own the pants I'm wearing, I stole them.

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"Taking a break already, little bird?"

Regina had long ago learned to hide her irritation at the other Death Eaters attempts to get a rise out of her. She simply met Dolohov's eyes with a deadly smile and slid the parchment to him across the cold stone table. "The owl came in just this morning, Warden."

"Birds of a feather, eh?" He replied mockingly.

Ever since Regina was eleven there seemed to be no end to Zelena's teasing, thankfully her older siblings taunts had made her accustomed to any and all avian-centric insults thrown her way.

With a flourish Antonin Dolohov rolled out the message and began to read, every so often taking another sip of his fire whiskey. "The Dark Lord will be very pleased with you, Mills, another werewolf ally to add to our ranks is always cause for celebration." He stared lecherously at her, "I can tell you're eager to get your beak wet with a promotion. This letter here could officially get you off of dungeon guard duty, I remember when I used to go on missions..." He sighed wistfully as he finished off his beverage, Regina noted this new aspect of her bosses personality. He wanted out too, she gathered. "Maybe now you'll get to stretch out your wings."

Another Ravenclaw reference, if Regina knew she'd get this much flack for being sorted into the intelligent house in lieu of her families favored house she would've let the sorting hat put her in Slytherin. It certainly would've kept her loyalty the the Dark Lord out of question at least. "Ruby Lucas is more than willing to go above and beyond our call to arms." She replied steadily.

"How did you manage it exactly? She was a Gryffindor, was she not?"

"So was The Rat." Regina said. If she had learned anything from working with Dolohov it was that he could always be distracted with an opportunity to insult a common enemy. Especially Pettigrew. Regina's careful observation had told her he resented the twitchy little man for some reason.

Dolohov snickered, "The Rat is pathetic, did you hear about how he swooned at The Dark Lords side when Crabbe and Goyle came back from the White family ambush?"

Regina felt her stomach dropped but her face only displayed casual nonchalance in front of her boss, "I wasn't aware there were any plans for an ambush on the White family."

"Oh that's right, that mission was above your station."

"Or perhaps I was too busy persuading Lucas to join us." She countered as she discreetly slipped her hand into her cloak pocket and thumbed open the crystal phial within. "So, what exactly happened with the White ambush?"

Dolohov peered at her suspiciously, "What's it to you?"

It was Regina's turn to smirk this time because she had a solid excuse for this, "I'm sure you already know that the Mills and Whites have never gotten along." The term 'blood feud' was an understatement, "I'd like to pass along every morbid detail to my dear mother."

The older man leaned into her personal space. Regina could smell the Fire Whiskey on his breath among other things, "Well the parents got away, but we got their cub. The fiery blonde one." Dolohov took another sip of the drink she'd handed him, wait when had she handed him a drink? Well it was delicious.

Regina let out a bark of laughter in a perfect imitation of her mother, "Let me guess, the idiot dove in the way to save her family didn't she?"

Antonin Dolohov slammed his cup on the table in excitement, a few drops of the potion splashed out and wisps of yellow smoke drifted up when they hit the floor. Veritaserum itself is clear but the Elixir of Euphoria she'd spliced it with gave it a golden yellow tinge. "That's exactly what happened! Oh, those lions can be so reckless. They almost make it too easy." He laughed heartily.

"Silly kitty's," she purred. "So where are they keeping her?"

Antonin's gloved hand waved about dramatically as he kept eye contact with her plunging collar, "In the western dungeons of course, just past that Lovegood girl."

"And is anybody with her right now?" She urged.

The oblivious jailer nodded, "Oh yeah, Goyle and, no wait, Crabbe and Goyle, yeah that sounds better. They're interrogating her."

Regina scoffed, "She's seventeen years old, what information could she possibly have for us?"

A lazy grin slid across his face, "Says she knows who Madame Regal is."

There was no breeze in the Warden's office but Regina felt an icy draft race up and down her spine. This time her mask did fall. She was lucky she'd slipped the blended potion into Dolohov's drink, it loosened his tongue and kept him from noticing certain things. Things like the absolute terror in her eyes or the fact that she shouldn't know the exact age of someone she'd never met before. "That's impossible, I- Madame Regal is just a rumor The Order was spreading around to insert distrust among The Dark Lords servants." She spouted off adamantly, then quickly added, "Among us." _Focus, Regina, you're better than this._

"Oh she's real, the little lioness practically swears by it." He said, as if this information didn't have the potential to completely ruin everything Regina had been working towards for the past two years.

"Idiot." Regina muttered under her breath and shook her head, "She couldn't possibly-"

"What?"

"Nothing." Her confident smile was back, "Hey, you know who deserves a drink for all their hard work ambushing and abducting that little brat?"

"My old mates! Grab and Kyle!"

"Yes, how about I go get them for you, Warden?" Regina was up and out of the Wardens office faster than he could ask for another glass of whatever she'd given him in the first place.

"Leave Luna alone, I'm the one you want. She doesn't know anything, she's just a kid." Emma insisted to the two buffoons who had been extremely lucky to have abducted her. Her left eye throbbed from the punch she'd received during their duel. Emma kicked herself for how distracted she had been. Emma recalled how she had successfully used the Expelliarmus spell on the shorter Death Eater but noticed too late that he still had a substantial advantage on her. The fact being he was about three times her size.

The taller, spongier one looked to 'Punchy' and then back at her from his seat on what she assumed would be her cot for the rest of her stay at Casa La Torture. "Just a kid? You can't be that much older than her, what do you know?"

"I told you already, I know everything." Emma replied as she tried to turn her grimace into a cocky grin. She heaved a sigh and looked up at the large iron chains at her wrists. Emma's fingers were almost numb from the cold and slippery with sweat but she forced them to feel around the edges for the keyhole, if she could get to the pin in her hair then picking the lock wouldn't take too long.

"She's bluffing." Said Punchy, Emma felt an odd sense of pride watching him struggle to walk across the dimly lit dungeon room floor. It had been her mother that put the limp there during their skirmish earlier today.

Spongy shrugged and cracked his knuckles threateningly, "Maybe... but we'll have some fun finding out."

The door to her less than luxurious room opened. In the frame of it stood a much smaller Death Eater, unlike her abductors this one was still wearing that creepy ass mask. "Hello, welcome to my suite!" Emma grinned in false bravado, "Please have a seat while I finish up with my business associates here." _Never let them see you sweat._

The new Death Eater ignored her comment and walked straight up to Spongy to whisper in his ear. Even with one non-swollen eye Emma could tell by the way the intruder walked that she was a girl. The generous display of cleavage her dress allowed was another hint of course. Though the cloak and hood prevented Emma from seeing much else of her body or hair.

After a brief discussion Punchy and Spongy left the room while sneering at her and she was left alone with the new Death Eater. Emma could tell that she was being sized up and did her best to look as threatening as one possibly could while chained to a ceiling with a black eye and split lip.

"Liar." In the silence Emma clearly heard the whispered accusation. "You don't know anything about Madame Regal, admit it." Her new guard seemed to like whispering, it had an eerie effect on Emma. Somehow it made the guard seem even more menacing than her two burly friends.

"Nope, and you can forget using any truth potions on me, they won't work. Don't know why, don't know how but I guess that's just my super power. You're going to have to get the information the old fashion way." The masked woman bristled but stayed silent.

"What's wrong? Can't stomach a little torture?" Emma felt a hand at her throat and what she could only guess was a wand poking her in the ribs,"Okay maybe not. Here's the deal I made with the Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Body Odor. I give you one tid bit of information about Madame Regal for every released prisoner."

The masked woman hissed threateningly and continued her quiet way of speaking, "Stubborn girl. Madame Regal doesn't exist." Her nails dug into the flesh at Emma's throat but didn't cut off her wind pipe. Emma inferred that she was just really bad a choking people.

"She does!" Emma replied with a hard stare into the deep brown eyes behind the metal mask, "Madame Regal exists and she is glorious and brave and _nothing_ like you." The guard scoffed and released her grip on Emma. The blonde coughed but kept her eyes on the retreating woman's form.

"And she's going to kill you." Emma added with all the sureness as the promise of a new day.

The guard stopped at the open doorway a moment, "I'd love to see that happen."

There was a gust of wind as the door slammed and the clunky iron chains that had been holding Emma up released her without warning. Emma crashed to the floor and shivered shivered. She tasted copper on her tongue so she spit out the blood and ran a hand through her hair.

With the solitude came her doubts but Emma refused to regret what she did, she was sure if she hadn't told them about Madame Regal they would still be using the Crutacious curse on Luna. Emma being outspoken about her knowledge of the inner workings of The Order had put all the attention on her which was fine, Emma was tough and she felt could handle whatever they threw at her for a while. Definitely until her parents, any Order members or the reclusive and secretive spy that had infiltrated the Death Eaters could rescue her. The only problem was Emma had no idea who Madame Regal was and absolutely no idea where to find her.


	2. Chapter 2

_"___Number 42! You're the best Chaser I've ever seen!" She was like a tiny golden sun, a ball of fiery energy, warm with the kind of gravity that pulled a bashful smile from Regina's lips.__

_The Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff match had just concluded and as the rest of the student body had shuffled off the field. A sixteen-year-old Regina Mills had stayed back to rest and unstrap her shin guards. Regina watched as her newest 'fan' plopped her tiny body in the seat next to her at the bleachers. "Careful, Angelina Johnson wouldn't like to hear you saying that." Regina tapped the young girls red and gold scarf._

"_But you are! You were all, zoom, dodge, weave, catch, flip! Score!" Regina chuckled at the exhilarated Gryffindor. "Oh, manners! Right, hi! I'm Emma Swan-White, it's my first year here."_

_Regina recognized the surname instantly, "Aha, I know who you are... though I didn't know you were a White." She would've noticed the girl much sooner if she had known. Even though Regina cared little of her families history with the Whites her mother still went off on the sporadic rage filled tangent about the many atrocities done to her by Eva White._

_Emma shrugged and explained, "They only called me Emma Swan during the sorting ceremony... It's my dads last name."_

_Regina was hesitant to say her name now but looking at the innocent blonde with the carefree smile the brunette took a deep breath and politely said, "My name is Regina. Regina Mills."_

_Emma blinked at her from behind square framed glasses, "Mills?" Regina surmised that her own mother, Cora, wasn't the only one prone to the occasional Mills and White family history lesson. The young Gryffindor motioned towards Regina's deep blue quidditch robes and eagle house crest, "But you're a Ravenclaw, shouldn't you be in, you know, Slytherin?"_

_Regina looked down at her dragon hide gloves and began pulling them off, she'd heard that so many times in the past five years. "I'm not like them," she shook her head, "I'm not like my mother."_

_The daughter of Snow White was silent for a very long time but she hadn't looked at Regina with any disgust and that had to count for something, "When I heard you and your sister were here at Hogwarts, they told me to watch out for you... I thought you'd hate me." Regina looked up and saw for the first time how small and insecure Emma Swan-White really looked in that moment. It was a stark contrast to the brazen girl that had run up to her shouting about quidditch skills._

_Regina laid her hand on Emma's tense shoulder, "There are a lot of things I hate." My belittling sister, my controlling mother, and the destiny she has carved out for me. "None of them have anything to do with someone I've just met."_

_Emma smiled brightly then said, "So, we can be friends?"_

Chapter 2

As soon as the door shut and she was safe from the blondes vision Regina poofed away her mask and turned her head to sneer in Emma's general direction. Regina imagined the blonde behind the door and used her magic to unlock the chains. _'Why is she trying to kill me?'_ Regina threw up her hands in exasperation. Their time at Hogwarts together had only lasted two years, Regina's 6th year being Emma's first, then after she graduated Regina had given the girl very little thought. So much had happened since then.

This Emma Swan-White was taller now, angrier too.

The young Death Eater flipped back the hood of her cloak and made her way to her chambers wrestling with herself to figure out the next logical step. This captive was not a part of the plan and Regina was not a fan of surprises, especially blonde ones.

If Emma really did know who Madame Regal was and if she told anyone then Regina would be killed, Emma had to know that and Regina couldn't think of one reason why Emma would want that.

If Emma didn't know but Regina revealed herself to Emma either as 'Madame Regal' or just 'Regina Mills the Death Eater' it didn't matter because of their past. The blonde would expect to be rescued and an escaped prisoner while Regina was on duty would put her loyalty to question yet again. Regina resolved that she'd have to keep her Death Eater mask on in front of the blonde.

If the other Death Eaters tortured Emma to death or insanity and her parents found out then she'd have to deal with the added headache of Snow White jumping to conclusions the way she tends to do. Also, the thought of Emma dying brought the taste of bile to the back of Regina's throat.

So many 'if's'.

Running wasn't an option, or something Regina even wanted to do, she believed in the work she was doing for The Order. There was another reason as well, she couldn't just abandon Emma even though she had little power as a guard. Not nearly enough rank in the Death Eaters to stop anyone in the inner council from hurting the lioness.

Regina opened the door to her chambers, entered and hung her cloak on the coat rack. As she stepped further into the room an odd sensation came over her and her hand went to her wand, Regina continued walking as if there was no disturbance but stayed alert. Once she'd reached her dresser at the far end of her room she made a show of checking her reflection in the large vanity mirror while she scanned the room for whatever had set her on edge.

Then she caught it; her bed was made differently. The pillows seemed fluffier and they had been rearranged in a way that the decorative purple and white patterns complemented each other elegantly.

Regina rolled her eyes, "Hello mother."

"You're getting better darling." Cora Mills materialized in the armchair by the fireplace. Regina's chair.

Regina turned to face her mother, steeling herself for the upcoming interaction. "I've only you to thank for my paranoia."

Cora rolled her eyes dramatically, Regina hated the fact that she'd picked up that habit of her mothers. "Oh, stop your pouting." The older woman shivered and Regina automatically traversed the short distance to the fireplace and lit the chopped oak wood with an _Incendio_. "You know you wouldn't have gotten this opportunity for a promotion without me pushing you in the right direction."

"That has to be the truest thing you've ever said." Regina said as she stood pensively near the warmth of the flames.

Her mother clapped her hands together, "I'm so glad you've come around to my way of thinking dear, for a while there your sister and I were worried."

Regina knew that was a lie, Cora Mills didn't worry about anything. She was always in control. "You mentioned a promotion?" No good would come from talking of the past or Zelena with her mother.

"Yes, Gold wants someone in Bristol." Cora held a scroll up to her daughter who took it carefully, "To help him take care of a rogue one-handed nuisance," she continued. "If everything goes well, who knows, maybe you'll be able to sit in on inner council meetings with us. No more boring cages, no more dreary cobblestone walls."

"No more prisoners." Regina realized as she absently dragged her thumb over the official seal of The Dark One, Voldemort's most powerful and fickle ally. "Gold wants a favor? That would certainly stabilize his alliance to our cause. I can't imagine him ever truly needing help with anything, it's probably a test."

Cora lounged on her daughters plush sofa as she polished her wand with an embroidered deep purple cloth. "Who cares about his motives? I've known that man for decades and he is always scheming but think of what this could do for you! You should be able to prove that despite your... regrettable sorting error," she made it sound as if she knew it was a choice for Regina, "you are a Mills and a valuable asset to the Death Eaters."

Regina pursed her lips but said nothing as she pretended to re-read the letter.

Cora took this as a sign to keep talking, "Your prey here is too easy, all chained up and helpless, you need a title befitting someone of the Mills family name."

"Titles, yes." It was always about Titles with this woman.

"Of course, you'll need permission from the Warden to leave." Her mother mused aloud.

_'Warden is a title'_, Regina thought but instead she said, "Yes, the Warden." The younger woman rolled up the letter. "Thank you mother. I know exactly what to do."


	3. Chapter 3

_The tingling sensation in her foot prompted Emma to shift her position ever so slightly. As she moved, her shoe skidded on the rough bark of the tree that she was currently crouching in. A few twigs broke free and fell to the soft grassy earth below. Emma stilled and held her breath, stifling a giggle as Ruby and Graham raced past her, completely unaware of their fellow Gryffindor hidden above them. _

_When Emma couldn't hear their rowdy stomps against the ground anymore she let out a breath and settled herself into a more comfortable position on her stomach. Both arms wrapped around a thick branch with one leg wrapped around the trunk of the tree and the second balancing on another branch. The blonde almost immediately grew bored, but she was too stubborn to give up the game. Emma's determination to win strengthened and she lifted herself up to peer through some leaves to see if her classmates were still looking for her. _

_Then Emma heard someone approaching from her other side, she twisted around and ducked but was sure to make no noise as another student, one that was thankfully not playing the game, approached. Emma couldn't see her face but she could tell she was wearing a light blue sun dress. The girl strolled near Emma and her tree and then proceeded to make herself at home under the shade provided. The girl sat at the base of the trunk and began reading. 'Ugh, who reads on a Saturday?' Emma thought to herself._

_Emma made a split second decision and called down to the girl, "Hey, you can't sit there you're going to give me away." _

"_What? Hello?" The girl's shoulders went from relaxed to stiff as she looked left, right and then up revealing her face to the blonde. _

_Emma was thankful for the thick leaves that hid her because she could feel the heat in her cheeks, "Oh hey Regina!" _

_Regina squinted up at her from below and Emma caught the briefest hint of recognition on her face, "Emma?" _

"_Yeah, I'm up here, but don't look!" The younger girl pleaded as she looked around to make sure her friends weren't nearby. "Just pretend to read your book or something." _

"_I came here to actually read my book." To Emma, the older girl sounded more amused than annoyed, "Why are you- Oh, kitten stuck in a tree? This suddenly makes perfect sense! Were you chased by a hound of some sort?" Regina chuckled, she had her head buried in her book so that no one would see her lips moving as she spoke. _

"_Ha. Ha. I'm not stuck. My mates wanted to play Hide and Seek." Emma explained._

"_What's that?" Regina asked._

_Emma felt an ant crawling across her forearm and squished it with her other hand. In retrospect she should have picked a tree with less bugs and insects because she'd been on a killing spree since she first found this 'perfect' hiding spot, "It's a muggle game, one person hides and everyone else looks for them." _

_The Ravenclaw tilted her head as she turned an unread page, "It seems like it'd be over rather quickly. If it were the other way around I believe the game would last much longer and be more entertaining." _

"_Maybe," The Gryffindor shrugged and leaned up on an elbow so the branch wasn't pressed against her ribcage, "but see I'm very good at hiding but I'm even better at finding people. That's why I'm the one that has to hide." _

_Regina smiled up at Emma, "I see, but you excel the most with bragging."_

"_Come on, Regina! If you keep looking up here they're going to find me." Emma dropped a small stick and it landed in the open book on Regina's lap. _

_Regina's smile turned into a pout, "Do you want me to leave?" she offered as she fiddled with the stick. _

_Emma didn't have to think about her answer, "No, you can stay! But you have to be discreet! You know, elusive and stuff." _

"_That's a pretty big word for a Gryffindor." Regina teased._

"_That's a pretty low neckline for a Ravenclaw." Emma shot back. She giggled as the brunette gasped and her hands flew up to cover her mildly exposed chest. "Seriously I could see your bra!" Emma continued._

_The Chaser glared up at the young blonde and stood, hands still at her breasts. Emma was about to apologize when she noticed the menacing grin on Regina's face, "Hey, everyone!" Emma's jaw dropped and her heart beat sped up, she shook her head but it was useless, "I found Emma, she's in this tree!" _

"_Awww, really?" Emma complained as she scampered down the trunk of the tree in haste, "It was a joke!" She called over her shoulder to a laughing Regina as Graham and Ruby chased her like a pair of hunting dogs towards the lake._

It hadn't been too difficult convincing Antonin Dolohov to answer Golds request in her place. It was a balancing act, she had to get him jealous enough of her to want the mission but also stay on his good side so that he'd put her in his place as Warden when he left. In the end Regina's strategy to appeal to Dolohovs sense of entitlement had worked splendidly.

As the new Warden Regina would be able to oversee the interrogation procedures of any captives brought into her dungeons. Her new station afforded her less privacy though, there were always higher ranking Death Eaters coming and going throughout the week, every one of them requesting an audience with her. It made it harder for her to get messages out to The Order or to her comrade in espionage, Ruby Lucas, and she had a sneaking suspicion that her owl was being followed.

Though her biggest threat to being found out was locked up in the western corridor. Regina had reassigned almost all guards and prisoners out of that area just in case the fool decided to get impatient, as Gryffindors were known to do, and start shouting her real name just to prove a point. Even though Regina doubted that Emma actually knew who she was, she had decided to plan to prevent the worst from happening. The only guards near Emma had to believe the blonde was also lying, which left a thin skeleton crew. Still too many people to be safe.

Regina stormed into Emma's cell, mask shielding her face as always, and spotted Emma sitting on the wooden bench kicking at an empty bowl and glaring up at her. Regina had to remind herself not to yell because she was at least seven kinds of irritated and four of those irksome reasons were all Emma Swan. She took a deep calming breath and wordlessly commanded the chains to take hold of Emma's wrists. Emma wasn't using her hands anyway, which was the entire reason why Regina had to come down here in the first place. "The guards tell me you aren't eating." She whispered when she'd approached the chained and disgruntled woman.

Emma grunted, "So?"

"So," Regina mocked, "you don't get to starve yourself to death. I am the Warden of this dungeon and you die on my terms, not yours." She pointed her wand toward the door and spelled it open before she _Wingardium Leviosa _charmed in a tray with a new bowl of stew. "Eat." She ordered.

Emma, being Emma, of course ignored the food and stared back at her captor like she was trying to decipher some hidden meaning behind the words of a Death Eater. "You're the Warden? Hmm, The Whispering Warden." Regina felt like she should have seen this nickname coming, she shoved a spoon into Emma's hand as the Gryffindor continued, "You sound like a Stephen King novel."

"Finish your plate." Regina tried to ignore how much she sounded like her mother chastising her nine-year-old self. While Emma prodded at a chunk of meat in the stew Regina took the time to lean against the rough stone wall and assess her captive, arms folded across her stomach. Emma looked frailer than when she'd first arrived a week ago, pale too, at least the swelling and bruising around Emma's eye had gone down.

Emma peered warily at a steamed carrot, "What did you put in it? I already told you truth serums don't work on me." Regina almost laughed at that, even if she did believe Emma's claims to be immune to _Veritaserum_ she couldn't take the risk on the miniscule chance that Severus Snape had let it slip who she was. Her former Professor was the only Order member who knew her identity and she liked to keep it that way.

"Then you have nothing to worry about do you?" Emma didn't budge but Regina could tell she found the aroma wafting from the ceramic bowl to be tantalizing, "If I wanted to kill you I'd just do it like this." The Warden's wand pressed against the center of her captive's chest.

The Gryffindor shook her head as if she wasn't one phrase from certain death, "I'll eat when you tell me what the hell happened to Luna. Is she alive or not?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Regina answered petulantly, in truth Luna had been transferred to the Malfoy's Manor. Regina had fought the decision for three days and put off actually sending Luna for as long as she could without looking suspicious under the guise of being too short staffed at the moment to spare guards for a transport mission. In the end Bellatrix Lestrange herself had come to escort the girl away, that was one visitor that Regina would like to avoid at all costs.

"Tell me." Emma said. Her green eyes flashed with determination but she was so weak from malnutrition that it almost came out as a plea. Almost.

Regina relented only slightly, "I tell you and you'll eat?"

"Yes." There was undeniable promise in her voice now.

"She's alive."

Emma looked at her with a hard gaze that bore through the mask and for a second Regina almost forgot she was wearing it. She felt so exposed and loathed every second of it. Then Emma turned back to her meal and began eating, chains clanking softly against the wooden bench.

Regina blinked, surprised at how disconcerting that was. "You believe me? Just like that?"

"I can tell when people are lying." Emma said around mouthfuls of beef, potato, and carrot.

"Another superpower?" Regina replied dryly and scowled at Emma. Despite the fact that the blonde couldn't see it the action made Regina feel better, like she still had the anger towards the lioness that she did when she'd first entered the dungeons.

Emma grinned but it held none of the warmth that it did years ago, "Yup! It's how I know you're lying about Madame Regal." Regina forced her breathing to stay even, "You know she's real too."


	4. Chapter 4

**Addendum: Trigger Warning! BDSM scenario, alludes to spanking. **

**Notes: If you are or know who the original artist of the image that inspired this fic is, please let me know do I can give credit. Also a huge thanks to Jazzybabe10 for being an awesome beta! **

**Fun Fact: You may have caught this by now but in every chapter I have at least one reference to a SQ fan fiction or fan fiction author that I have read and enjoyed thoroughly. Some of my hints are obvious, others are not. Easter Eggs my friend!**

Chapter Four

Though it was winter outside and she was trapped in a dungeon cell; Emma Swan was sweating. She shook her head and curled to face the wall. The taut canvas of her cot slid against its metal frame and squeaked like it always did whenever she shifted positions. Emma rested her forehead against a smooth patch on the wall and let it cool her down. She breathed in and out to calm the rapid pulsing sensations, both in her rib cage and below. She closed her eyes, tried to wipe away the last remnants of the dream from her memory. It was pointless.

_'Silencio_.' The Warden had whispered in the dream.

Emma's nails dug into her palm in her closed fist. She couldn't stop the barrage of images. Of blood red nails on pale flesh, the echos of a sultry moan, and the feel of warm breath ghosting over her cheek.

_She was clad only in her underwear, bent over a table in the middle of the room, arms above her head and chained at the wrist. Emma struggled to look over her shoulder. There stood The Warden, mask in place, wearing little else. Her outfit was all black leather and deep green lace. The Warden made a show of ignoring Emma as she slowly examined her tools. The wall behind Emma was adorned with an array of frightful medieval looking objects. Emma gulped. The Warden squeezed and released a rather intimidating metal clamp, considered it for a moment, then put it back on the shelf._

_There was a building excitement at war with Emma's sensibility. The Warden bent down, allowing Emma ample view of her shapely rear, and picked up a a medium sized paddle. The jailor weighed the wooden plank in her hand and swung it through the air. Emma flinched as the gust of wind created by the paddle met her bare skin. _

"_I do hope you're as strong you claim to be, Miss Swan," The Warden purred, suddenly at her side, "because I'm going to enjoy breaking you." _

Emma bit down on her fist to stifle her groan then she turned to lay on her back again. She rested her head on her folded up sweater and put her hand behind it to prop it up for better neck support. Soon the realization sank in that she hadn't had a dream that intense featuring anyone except Regina Mills before.

Sure there had been other crushes, other sex dreams as well, but none of them compared to her first crush. Until now. Emma's stomach lurched at the thought. No this wasn't a crush it was just lust.

Lust and the fact that she'd been single since Mulan broke up with her for Aurora last year. She was not going to freak out about... whatever the hell had just happened. She was going to forget it and pretend the dream had been about someone else. Katie Bell or Hermione Granger or hell even Ruby would work at this point.

The Warden had called Emma an 'insipid fool' and left very abruptly after Emma accused her of lying about Madame Regal, which wasn't suspicious at all. That was yesterday though she couldn't be sure; telling time was tricky in a dungeon. Emma had run their entire encounter in her mind over and over yet she couldn't figure out what had The Warden so freaked out about Madame Regal. One thing was for sure, Emma couldn't ignore her gut instinct, that woman was hiding something and it was big.

* * *

"If this Madame Regal of yours is so amazing then why are you so willing to give her up?" The Warden whispered to her, the real one this time. She was back. The Death Eater had just charged in and magically chained her to the wall. Her behavior was so domineering that Emma had to remind herself that she wasn't asleep.

Emma opened her mouth to speak but then shut it immediately. She couldn't think of an answer, she looked down and bit her tongue gently. She had to think of something fast.

The Warden took a step closer, "Not so chatty any more hmm?" Emma furrowed her brow; somehow she could tell that the older woman was smiling behind that creepy mask. "Perhaps, it's because you have run out of lies to tell."

Whenever Emma's mother wanted information she would do just this; 'Knowing Silence', her father had called it with an unpleasant shudder. Emma remembered once during the holidays when she'd accidentally broken her mothers favorite Yew Wood Longbow, Snow had fished the entire story from a guilt ridden Emma by just sitting and waiting patiently.

"Cat got your tongue?" The Warden taunted but Emma just turned her head and acted as if there was something invaluably more interesting than the woman in front of her. It took a gargantuan amount of effort considering the tight and revealing dress the woman was wearing.

She felt The Warden's stiff fingers pressing at her cheek, "Look at me." She hissed, forcing Emma to face her again. Apparently The Warden did not like being ignored. With this new information at hand Emma stared past The Warden.

As Emma had predicted, this only made her angrier. '_Good_', she thought, _'when people are angry they mess up' _

"Speak to me." Another whispered demand.

Emma pursed her lips together until they were a thin line.

"Emma." The Warden warned.

At this Emma blinked and locked eyes with the older woman, "Well that's interesting." She said finally.

"What?" The Warden did little to hide her irritation.

"I never told any of you my name." The Gryffindor revealed adopting a triumphant grin. Emma could see the woman's eyes narrow beneath her mask.

A moment passed between them and then the Warden let out a low chuckle. "You think that proves anything?" She let go of Emma's face and folded her arms under her breasts. This action only served to push them up more, Emma tried not to whimper. "Oh, Miss Swan you're going to have to do better than that." The Death Eater continued, "The Swans and the Whites are pure blood families; I've known your name since before you were even born. You and your parent's charred faces are on a tapestry hanging in my living room." Emma swallowed at the imagery but said nothing. "Of course I know your name." The Warden finished.

Emma could tell that was definitely not a lie. "Okay, but still, I've been thinking." Emma informed The Warden, "And I have a theory."

The older woman tilted her head to the side. Emma continued with the thoughts that had kept her up last night after her unsettling erotic dream.

"I think I know you." Emma said and nodded to herself when she saw the other woman's shoulders tense for a moment. "Now I think I'm right."

The Death Eater set her hands on her hips, "What makes you think that?"

"If I didn't know what your pretty little face looked like, then you wouldn't wear a mask around me." Emma claimed victoriously.

The older woman scoffed, "Or maybe I'm scarred beyond recognition." she deadpanned.

"Are you?" Emma asked.

The Warden nodded once, "I am scarred."

Emma clenched and released her fists, her hands were starting to tingle and fall asleep from being elevated for so long. "Okay that's true..." She admitted. "But what about this! If I didn't know what your voice sounded like then you wouldn't have to whisper your little sweet nothings to me all the time."

The Warden rolled her eyes, "Sweet nothings?" Emma shrugged. She knew she was being cheeky but she couldn't help it. The older woman sighed and pulled out a silver pocket watch. She casually opened it, glanced at the clock face then snapped it shut. "I'm wasting my time with you. You don't know anything."

"Oh I know plenty!" Emma could sense her captor was about to leave and felt she had to prolong this encounter. "I know who Madame Regal is remember?" She bluffed for the umpteenth time.

The Warden was already moving towards the door, "How could I possibly forget? You won't shut up about it. Good night Miss Swan." She said it so softly Emma almost didn't hear her.


	5. Chapter 5

_Emma sighed as she drew her legs away from under the clean white sheets and sat up on the bed. She crossed her legs, uncrossed them, and tapped a familiar beat on her thighs with her fingers. The second-year was bored out of her mind. She undid the tie around her neck and fiddled with the ending. Madame Pomfrey refused to let her out of the Hospital Wing until Professor Snape came back with more of that weird potion that smelled like old boots but tasted like mint chocolate chip ice cream. _

"_Emma?" _

_The blonde perked up immediately, she turned towards the end of the hall to find the speaker. She looked past the petrified bodies of her schoolmates and Gryffindor house ghost to find a hesitant Regina Mills stepping in through the great wooden doors. Much like Emma, the Ravenclaw was still wearing her wind-swept school uniform even though classes had ended hours ago. _

_Emma waved to the older girl and cheerfully greeted her. Regina visibly relaxed, her pace quickened and when she got closer, Emma could see the familiar burgundy tint of her red Oak wand in Regina's hand. "You brought my wand! I was wondering where it went." Emma was careful not to let their fingers brush when Regina handed over her wand; the last time it happened she blushed for an hour. That might be an exaggeration, though, Emma was beginning to realize that this teenage crush of hers made everything that happened around Regina seem more vivid._

_Regina took the seat beside Emma's bed. "Yes, you dropped it when you..." Emma waited and watched as the seventh year scrunched up her face, like she did whenever she couldn't find the proper word to express herself. Regina looked out the window, down at her pristine black leather boots, and then up at the ceiling. Emma thought about putting her hand on Regina's shoulder -purely for comfort- but even the idea of doing that made her cheeks warm. "I'm really sorry Emma." Regina finished._

_The Gryffindor gave the older teen a confused look, "Why? You didn't know I was allergic to peanuts. Sometimes even I forget about it!" _

_Regina ran a hand through her long dark hair. For all the time Emma had known Regina, her hair was almost always in a neat french braid. Today it fell in waves down Regina's back and over her shoulders. Emma idly wondered if Regina's hair felt as soft as it looked. "I've ruined your birthday." The Ravenclaw stated apologetically._

_Earlier during a break in their one-on-one Quidditch skirmish -Emma had tried out this year but didn't get on the team so Regina offered to give her some pointers on the sport- The Chaser had surprised Emma with a biscuit tin for her thirteenth birthday. The results were less than desirable. _

_Emma clasped her hands behind her head and rested them on the headboard of the hospital bed as she remembered the elation she'd felt when Regina remembered her birthday. Lately Regina's mind and free time was spent with her secret boyfriend, Daniel, a Hufflepuff born to non-magical parents. The worst part of it all was that Daniel turned out to be unfailingly kindhearted and he adored Regina. Emma wanted to hate him but he made Regina's whole face light up. _

_Emma took a long unobstructed breath, the minty boot potion had definitely worked. "Don't worry about my birthday, I'll have others." _

"_I should warn you though." Regina said ominously, "Our parents are in Dumbledores office right now."_

_Emma sat forward and her hands fell to her sides, "What? Why? I had an allergic reaction, but I'm fine now!"_

"_Yes, but it was my biscuits you were eating." Regina explained. "A Mills gave a White something to eat, then bad things happened." _

_Emma giggled, Regina didn't. "Oh. They're serious about this? They think you did this because of our families?"_

_The seventh-year nodded, "Some people do, but not the ones that matter. Dumbledore believes me but given our family history and you know how fast rumors spread around campus. Especially right now with everyone paranoid about the Heir of Slytherin." _

"_What does the Heir of Slytherin have to do with us?" Emma asked, she put it together before Regina could answer, "Do they think you're the Heir?" Emma eyed the petrified body of Colin Creevey two beds away then back at the older girl. The look Regina gave her was answer enough. "That's- no!" Emma's ponytail of blonde locks flew left and right as she shook her head, "You're not even in Slytherin! I'll talk to them, tell 'em it's not you!"_

_Regina smiled weakly, "They might not believe you. You're too-"_

"_-Don't say I'm too young, that's rubbish. I'm twe- I'm thirteen!" Emma still wasn't used to saying that yet._

_Regina just gave Emma the same smile that every adult used on her; The 'you'll understand when you're older'. Emma found this condescending and hypocritical because honestly Regina wasn't that much older than her; just four years and eight months. "Don't pout, you know what I mean."_

"_Yeah, I got it." Emma hated being reminded how much Regina thought of her as a kid. _

_Regina took one of Emma's hands and held it between her own."Look, thank you for your concern but I'm not worried. I was before, but I'm sure the Headmaster will sort this all out." Emma stared down at their hands and prayed hers wasn't too sweaty. "I'm glad you're okay Emma and not simply because it clears my name." Emma blinked, she couldn't think of a response. This was the most contact she'd ever had with her crush. "I'd better leave, they're bound to come visit you soon and I have to meet my mother in Professor Flitwick's office. I don't want to keep her waiting." Regina let go of Emma to stand up, she seemed to tense up again. _

_Emma had never met Cora Mills, but she knew enough to recognize that the relationship Regina had with her mother had been strained for some time. The blonde mischievously grinned up at the Chaser. "Oh I see, you don't want to be caught with me. Are you afraid my mother will ban me from ever seeing you again?" _

_Regina chuckled low in her throat, "You are so weird." She tossed a pillow from a nearby empty bed at Emma, it hit the blonde square on the chest. _

"_Normal is boring." Emma blew a kiss at Regina's retreating form. "Farewell, Juliet!"_

* * *

_'Why do I feel like every time I go in there to question her, I'm the one being interrogated?' _Regina pondered this in the middle of a clearing, shrouded in darkness and alone with her musings for the time being. She hadn't seen Emma in days and didn't plan to any time soon. It was all too much; balancing her identity as a Death Eater and an Informant was enough. Adding to that a constant blonde reminder of the naïve girl she used to be was frustrating beyond comprehension. Memories of her time at Hogwarts with Emma were linked with Daniel so she'd buried them with him, metaphorically, and she was fine with that. She didn't need to dwell on her past to get revenge on the people that ruined her future.

Now though, with Emma here, memories that she'd locked away years ago were at the forefront of her mind. They'd both changed so much and Regina was slowly beginning to realize just how different this older version of Emma was. Regina idly acknowledged that the Gryffindor had grown into an attractive young woman, a part of her regretted that they hadn't kept in touch after she graduated. Up until Emma had been captured Regina had had, under the guise of her identity as Madame Regal, more contact with Emma's parents and best friend Ruby Lucas than Emma herself. Even then those sparse letters were all business and hidden meanings behind coded words, nothing to do with the lioness she had caged.

An owl hooting in the distance jarred the informant from her brooding, Regina stood and flipped her hair from her face. She held her leather clad arm up as her eagle owl, Bernard, swiftly circled her and landed on Regina, talons gripping the protective barrier.

"Hello, dear." Regina purred as she stroked his horned brow and conjured a strip of raw meat for him with her wand. The night was quiet but clouds in the sky parted to allow moonlight to filter through. She gingerly touched Bernard's left leg, he had a gash there, the owl flapped it's wings in protest then glowered up at the stars above. Regina followed his gaze and saw the silhouette of a hawk. Regina sighed, "I had a feeling you were being followed." The brunette adjusted the hood of her cloak around her, pointed her wand at the approaching bird of prey and expertly transfigured it into a stuffed version of itself.

The Death Eater sauntered the short distance to pick up the fallen plush toy. Bernard squawked and restlessly catapulted himself off of her arm and flew back towards his perch in her office several miles east of these woods. He was too proud to be healed with magic right now, Regina guessed, she'd have to wait until the stubborn fowl was asleep. Pets have a way of mirroring their owners personalities, she smirked.

Hours later found Regina in Dolohovs old office quill in hand and a small parchment in front of her. In the few weeks that she had taken over as Warden she hadn't personalized it much. It was just neater, the odor was gone and it was much brighter now that Regina had taken up the habit of opening the large curtains. The early morning light streamed through tall glass windows and Regina stroked her chin with the tip of her feathered quill.

Two letters. Regina had to write two letters within one letter that would be read by at least three different people. One of these people had sent a hawk after Bernard to intercept the letter and Regina didn't want to disappoint that person. The problem was that whomever it was had to be convinced that the contents of the letter completely absconded Regina from suspicion of espionage and consequently would be delivered to Ruby Lucas, it's original intended. Ruby needed to read it and get it to Emma's parents, that was a given. If this person was smart then they'd reseal the letter and send it to Lucas, Regina wasn't about to underestimate a threat.

The Whites needed to know that their daughter was safe, Regina understood that, but that information was not pertinent to her mission up until now.

There had been a meeting, Voldemort had summoned his inner circle and Regina had been lucky enough to attend. She stayed silent, for the most of it, at the far end of the long table in Malfoy's Manor. The former Ravenclaw played her part well. She enthusiastically congratulated Greyback for turning a young Asian orphan into a werewolf and she pointedly agreed with everything her mother, seated beside her, had said. When they asked about Emma and Madame Regal she lied smoothly, all too aware of the irony.

Voldemort was after something; an artifact rumored to be in Tibet, he didn't say what it did or why but The Order would want to know and Madame Regal had to warn them about it. Warn them through a coded letter that would be intercepted by a hawk and then sent to Ruby.

The Warden's temple began to throb, she pressed two fingers to her head and massaged it, eyes closed. "Nonnie." Her voice was curt, authoritative.

A loud crack sounded through her office and a grungy, gnarled House Elf appeared in front of her. "What's it want now?" The servant squeaked disdainfully. Nonnie was loyal the Dolohov family but when Antonin left Regina in charge he'd given the near belligerent house elf orders to obey the new Warden. It had just occurred to Regina that she wasn't entirely sure what gender the elf was. Nonnie was ambiguous that way.

Regina's eyes were still closed but she could almost feel the elf's disapproving frown. "Breakfast. Something edible this time, made for humans." She had to be specific after the last few times she'd ordered her meals. Nonnie liked to find loop holes in her commands. Another crack and she correctly assumed the elf was gone.

When the house elf returned to set the food next to the Warden on the desk the parchment in front of her was still tauntingly bare of words. "Shelves, Nonnie." Regina said as she sniffed the tomato soup and deemed it acceptable. Regina ate while the elf set about it's chores mumbling all the while. She was used to Nonnie's mindless grumbling so she tuned it out, ignored it successfully until a certain phrase caught up with her.

"Filthy birdie eats the prison food."

Regina scrunched up her face, "Excuse me?" Nonnie snickered but kept dusting, "Come here, elf."

The poor creature hobbled over to the desk, "What's the eagle pretending to be a snake, what's it want?" Nonnie asked petulantly.

Regina peered down at the house elf, "Did you just call this prison food? Is this the food that was delivered to all the prisoners?" She asked sternly. Nonnie trembled in fear and, not for the first time, Regina wondered exactly what the Dolohovs would do to the elf whenever it would mess up. She was loathe to appear weak but softened her voice and said, "You won't be punished."

The house elf looked up at her with wide round eyes and admitted it's folly. "Yes, Warden, it is."

Regina shot up from her desk as if it were on fire, she slipped her wand from the sleeve in her boot and apparated to her chambers. Once the nausea that accompanied Apparating had subsided, she dashed to her trunk, heart racing as she frantically lifted the lid to reveal a smaller box within the trunk. Regina pulled the box of assorted potions out and dumped it onto the bed, crystal and glass vials spilled out the short distance and clinked against each other. Regina quickly scanned the small bottles and located the potion she was looking for with a relieved sigh. The tomato soup had peanuts in it but Regina had the antidote, everything was going to be alright.

Nothing could have prepared Regina for what she saw when she arrived in Emma's cell.


	6. Chapter 6

_Crash!_

"Guard! Guard! This prisoner is trying to escape!" A voice rang through the near empty hallway.

One pair of hurried footsteps rushed toward the door to Emma's cell. The heavy oak wood was pushed inward and a slim man rushed in holding his wand at the ready. The room was empty. The bench had been reduced to a pile of broken wood and there was a mad splash of orange across the floor and wall that ended with an upside down bowl.

_Thwack! Thud. _

He fell to the floor.

Emma smiled to herself as she fully exited her hiding spot from behind the door holding her sturdy make-shift club that in its previous life had been a bench leg.

"Not so fast little miss." She felt a hard poke through her tank top between her shoulder blades and the club dropped to the floor. A bead of sweat slid from Emma's temple as she raised both of her arms to the ceiling in a non-verbal surrender. "Turn around," ordered a harsh female voice.

Emma slowly spun around to face an unfamiliar looking blonde woman. Emma's face adopted a sheepish smile. The young Gryffindor shrugged. "Sorry, alright. You've caught me. Listen, I can explain every-" Like lightening Emma's hand dropped down and closed on the Death Eaters wand-hand twisting it away from her body. She grabbed the wand and yanked it towards the ground but the Guard refused to let go and was pulled down with it. She saw tiny spurts of teal magic emit from it's tip but hit neither of them.

Emma's knee popped up and connected with the Guards nose resulting in a sickening crunch. The Death Eaters grip on her wand loosened and Emma freed it from her grasp. "Petrificus Totalus," Emma said. She felt her current of magic meet resistance from the will of the wand in her hand but her own magic won out. The Death Eaters limbs stiffened and she fell to the hard stone floor face first next to the first guard.

Emma held her new wand in front of her and stepped out into the dimly lit corridor. _ Now what, genius?_ She thought to herself peering down the empty passages. Then Emma remembered that -for the most part- unless a Guard was patrolling back and forth down the hallway all footsteps usually came from the right. Emma turned and started off down the hall only to double back.

"Mind if I borrow this? It's a bit nippy out here," the lioness asked the unconscious guard. Emma chuckled and made fast work of removing his cloak and tying it around herself. "Too bad you two don't have your masks. Oh well, I'll just be leaving now!" She winked at their prone forms, closed the door, and then sped off into the dungeons.

_'Great plan Swan, really just dash off into the abyss,' _ Emma thought as she ducked down a narrow corridor to avoid a singular guard on patrol. She looked around for a staircase leading up. Every hallway was either dark and foreboding or sparsely lit with one or two waning torches. She hadn't seen natural light yet but that didn't matter much; it could be midnight on the surface for all she knew.

Emma's escape was a bit impromptu to be honest. She'd been roused from a fitful slumber when the tray of food was delivered. Emma was ravenous and the spoonful of tomato soup was dangerously close to her open mouth before she remembered to inspect it. Sure enough she had been two peanuts away from hives and anaphylactic shock. That might be an exaggeration but those two assholes were just sitting there on Emma's spoon swimming in tomato soup and innocently tainting her meal. The famished blonde had sighed and flopped herself onto the bench too forcefully on its creaky side. The bench collapsed.

When she fell her limbs flew up clumsily knocking over her bowl. Tomato soup cascaded down the wall. Emma grimaced. She was fairly certain she'd have a small bruise on her left hip from the landing. Then she noticed the sturdy bench leg and improvised.

Winging it seemed to be working so far though. Emma heard footsteps again and extinguished the only lit torch near her with the stolen wand. Whoever was walking by had and unhurried pace so she guessed that no one had been alerted of what she'd done yet.

Emma felt her way along the darkened corner to make a turn.

A turn that brought the lioness face to face, or rather face to mask, with the Warden.

* * *

_Hogwarts Castle was an imposing sight. Even now after walking it's halls and climbing it's stairs for seven years, Regina was impressed. She pensively ran her tongue along the edge of her teeth as she mentally checked off her to do list. Her trunk was packed and magically, she supposed, waiting for her in the luggage compartment of the train. She had everything she needed in her carry on, muggle clothes for Kings Cross, her current book, and make up bag. Regina turned to the Black Lake and watched as her fellow graduates milled about near the boats that they would sail in across the water to the train. _

_Katheryn and Tink were giddy with excitement, trying to get the other seventh-years to belt out a spirited rendition of the School Song. Daniel was off somewhere reminiscing with his Hufflepuff classmates. He promised he'd meet up with her later. Regina folded one arm across her torso to support her other arm as she rested her chin on a fist. She thumbed her bottom lip and still couldn't shake the feeling like she was forgetting something._

"_Hey! Number 42!" A voice called to her, cheerful and unnecessarily loud. Some things never change._

_Regina smirked as Emma bounded up the small hill she was standing on, slightly away from the chaos of her fellow graduates, "I think I'm going to petition to retire that number." She said once Emma reached the top. _

"_You better not or I won't be able to wear it next year." Emma claimed boldly, though Regina knew that half of her confidence was just show. _

_Regina patted Emma's shoulder, "You'll get Chaser, Emma. You're too stubborn not to." She added in jest. _

_Emma's jaw dropped in mock offense, "Is that any way to talk to a member of the Winning House?" _

"_As if I care about something as trivial and childish as the House Cup." The Ravenclaw withdrew her hand from Emma's shoulder and casually checked for any specks of dirt beneath her nails. _

_Emma tapped a finger to her chin, "Mhmm, remind me, how long has it been since Ravenclaw won? Was it one decade or two? Three? No that can't be right..." Emma smiled when the older girl's eyes widened and all pretense of nonchalance fell away. Regina was a true competitor. _

"_Gryffindor won on a technicality, practically half of those points were won by that Granger friend of yours and everyone knows she should be in a Ravenclaw!" Regina ended her small tirade with a stomp of her heeled foot on the grassy hill. It had little effect on the jubilant blonde._

"_Wow, Regina, you suck at losing." Emma teased and pointed behind her to where her Gryffindor friends were standing with her backpack waiting to climb into the horse-less carriages. "I just bought this healing potion, it's a remedy for Sore-Loser-itis." The blonde patted her arm sympathetically, "I think you might have it. Want me to get the remedy for you?" _

"_Perhaps you should, I seem to have developed a pain in my ass." Plump red lips pursed together as Regina eyed the blonde, "No wait, it's just you!" She chuckled at her own joke. Emma snorted and covered her mouth with her hand because she didn't make that sound very often and it only served to push her into a fit of giggles. Regina laughed as well. "That wasn't... even that funny!" She said between breaths._

_After a moment to compose themselves Emma was the first to speak, "How do you feel?"_

_The graduate took a moment to consider that question. She felt a lot of things. Nostalgia, definitely. She would miss Hogwarts. This school is where she spent her formative years. Where she met every single important person in her life barring family. Here she'd gone entire weeks without scathing comments from Zelena and months without disapproving stares from her mother. 'Sadness', that was there, but also 'Happiness'. Then there was 'Potential'. Was that even a feeling? She just kept looking at the horizon across the lake and seeing opportunity. _

"_Free." She said finally._

"_Freedom looks good on you." Emma complimented._

_The booming magically enhanced voice of Professor McGonagall filled the hillside reaching the ears of every student in the area. "Seventh Years! Seventh Years are to board the boats. All other students make your way to the carriages!"_

_Regina turned back to Emma and leaned in to fix her collar. "Don't try to palm the Quaffle, your hands aren't big enough yet. You have to scoop and cradle it." As she said this she went through the motions with her hand. Emma nodded and Regina wracked her brain for more advice. "Don't try to run from the Bludgers -that just gets them excited- maneuver them so they're distracted by an easier target. Every Keeper has a favorite hoop and a blind spot, so pay attention. And for Merlin's sake remember to wrap your leg around the staff of the broom when you twist-turn." Regina lightly shoved Emma to emphasize her point._

_Emma regained her balance quickly and raised her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay!" she exclaimed._

_The graduate jabbed a finger at her young friends shoulder. "Seriously, Emma, you always forget it's the simplest thing and you could fall if you don't do it! Honestly, how have you not grasped the concept of gravity yet?" Regina was all but seething and it was almost comical. Emma watched her take a deep breath and grinned as her older friend's voice lost its edge, "You're not invincible." _

_The Gryffindor briefly thought about defending herself or making another joke but instead she shook her head and her grin spread wider, reaching her eyes. Emma wrapped her arms around Regina and pulled her in for a hug that she didn't even have to stand on her toes to achieve. _

"_I'm going to miss you too," Emma whispered into dark locks._

* * *

"_Expelliarmus!" _Emma shouted as she sprinted and dove behind a suit of armor. She heard the Warden shield herself from the disarming spell with a _Portego. _Then before Emma could react with another spell her own physical shield of an empty suit of armor was blasted apart by the Warden's _Reducto_. Emma used her arm to block any shrapnel from hitting her face but none of it hit her. The loud clangs of metal hitting stone at a dozen different angles propelled her to her feet.

Emma leveled the wand at the Warden who was already in a perfect dueling stance. "_Stupefy_!" Emma yelled as the Warden simultaneously commanded, "_Avis_!"

Three black birds materialized and flew out of the Wardens wand as red light zoomed out of Emma's stolen one. Two of the birds took the bulk of Emma's spell and fell stunned to the floor. The third avian creature continued on its path and began pecking at Emma's head. The blonde swatted at it and backed up against the wall.

Every time Emma tried to point her wand at the bird it pecked at her hand or flapped it's wings in her face obscuring her vision. Emma ducked around it and flung the Death Eater cloak she was wearing over it. She bundled it up in the black material and quickly ripped the cloak's ties from around her neck.

The Warden pointed her wand at the ground near Emma's feet. Emma noticed too late that there was a gauntlet that had ended up there from the previously dismantled armor. "_Oppungo_!" The gauntlet sprung to life and grabbed for Emma's ankle.

A swift kick sent the disembodied metal hand skidding across the floor. Emma pointed her wand at the blazing torch above the Warden and shouted "_Descendo_!" The torch dropped down from it's stand.

Quick as a whip, the Warden countered it's downward spiral with an _Aguamenti._ A stream of water burst from her wand it doused the flames of the torch as well as pushed it away from her. Emma made a split second decision and tackled her captor. They fell to the floor, hard.

They rolled across the cobblestones. Emma ended up on top. She pried at the mask and was met with a sharp elbow to the nose.

"_Levicorpus,_" The Warden growled. Emma felt her ankle being yanked up by an invisible force. It was disorienting for a moment but the blonde had spent much time hanging upside down performing risky stunts on her broomsticks.

Emma grabbed the now empty torch stand to steady herself and yelled, "_Stupefy_!" This time the Warden couldn't shield herself without dropping the Levicorpus charm and it hit her right in the chest.

Emma's fall was cushioned by the unconscious Warden.

There was the sound of glass breaking and a strange wet feeling on her arm. Emma looked down at the shattered remains of a small vial and a teal substance coating her forearm.

"Ew." It smelled gross, like sweaty feet and worn leather. The sound of boots on the ground a distance away and muffled panicked shouts was all it took for Emma to lift herself off the Death Eater and scramble to stand upright.

The familiar smell of old boots wafted up from her arm and Emma looked down at the limb a second time. "No way," she mumbled, examining the sticky potion more closely. Emma swiped a finger to collect a few drops and taste tested it. Mint chocolate chip. "No fucking way," she swore louder this time. _Why? What are the odds that she would be carrying a potion that would heal someone from an allergic reaction half an hour after I get served soup that would give me an allergic reaction? _

Emma turned back to the sleeping heap of Warden on the floor. Curiosity won the war and she knelt down in front of her captor. Her interrogator. The Death Eater she'd just dueled.

The footsteps were getting closer. She really didn't have time for this but she had such a compelling feeling.

Her fingers absorbed the chill from the metal edge of the mask. Emma swallowed, her heart was racing and it wasn't merely because she'd had the duel of her life just moments ago. "Okay enough suspense, who the fuck are you?" Her words fell on deaf ears.

She unmasked the Warden.

"There she is! How did you get out?" A gruff, manly voice berated Emma from somewhere close but she didn't care because this was all obviously a dream. This was not happening. "What did you do to the Warden?" He asked urgently. Again Emma didn't answer, she didn't even look up, she couldn't take her eyes off of that face. That undeniably recognizable face. There were hands pulling at her, pulling her away from...

"Regina?"


	7. Chapter 7

The full report had taken nearly an hour to draft and then two more hours of revisions. Regina had learned to be meticulous that way. The neatly penned and exquisitely worded parchment sat unrolled in front of the Dark Lord himself. Regina stood confidently at the opposite end of the long table at Malfoy Manor, pointedly ignoring her mothers cool disapproval, as she recounted one version of the Escape Attempt Incident.

Officially Regina had gone down to the Swan girl's cell to taunt her about the latest fictional news that her parents had been brutally maimed, as this was common practice in her plan to break Emma's will for information about Madame Regal. As she said this, she looked around the room. Casually inspecting the faces of the highest ranking Death Eaters, Voldemort's closest allies. Judging by their expressions Regina knew that she'd guessed correctly; the other Death Eaters would enjoy hearing this cruel psychological angle of her story and snicker contentedly with the lie.

All but her mother who instead tilted her head curiously and narrowed her eyes at Regina. The look she'd adopted years ago that sprouted whenever Regina received an owl from her schoolmate 'Danielle'. A friend who had thick sloppy handwriting and mainly talked about Hippogrifs in the letters. Regina did not like that look.

Nevertheless Regina pressed onward. She told them that when she arrived she'd found the wrecked furniture and two subdued guards. She revived them and they split up to search for the escapee. Then she dueled the escapee long enough for the other guards to find them. This part was all true, you should always mix elements of the truth into your lies.

It was a believable story. She knew this because by the end of her speech she hadn't been either fired nor set on fire.

Regina omitted her plan to halfheartedly look for Emma. She also purposely forgot to mention how when she found Emma -headed _completely_ in the wrong direction- her new plan was to push the girl in the right direction or perhaps just drag her unconscious body out of the castle.

Emma had an annoying habit of unknowingly throwing wrenches into all of her plans. Which is why Regina waited until it was _absolutely necessary_ to see the blonde again. As it turned out that time came shortly after she returned from Malfoy's Manor.

Maleficent, being one of the guards that Emma subdued, felt entitled to an interrogation session with Emma in which she did very little interrogating. Regina was livid. With Maleficent for harming Emma, with herself for forgetting to make up an excuse for why no one was allowed to even touch Emma without the Wardens consent, with Emma for not successfully escaping. Just irrational rage that she could focus on instead of worrying about how far Maleficent would go to exact her revenge.

An agonizing scream echoed through the Western corridor and then replayed itself over and over in her mind. Regina opened the door to Emma's new cell it was slightly larger with a higher ceiling. Within the room she found both blondes alive and glaring at each other. Emma's hands were raised above her head and held there with heavy iron cuffs. The Gryffindor was sweating through her tank top but not showing any new cuts or bruises. The blondes turned to face Regina, Maleficent's face twisted into a malicious smile while Emma's glare intensified tenfold.

Regina wondered how many more times she was going to have to save this girl from torture and then be met with absolute loathing. She deserved it though, the loathing, she knew that much. Regina slipped into her role with less ease than usual, "You forgot to put a silencing charm on the room. Her words came out raw, weathered from their perilous journey past the bile at the back of her throat. "The brat's shrieking disturbs me."

"My apologies, Warden." Maleficent said disingenuously. "It won't happen again."

"Yes, well I needed a break anyway, I'll take over from here. You are dismissed." She informed a pouting Maleficent. Regina stepped to the side to allow the guard to exit and leveled her wand at Emma's throat. All the while avoiding eye contact with either of them.

The door to Emma's cell closed and they were alone. Emma was safe. All of her rage was gone and with it went Regina's energy. She dropped her wand and conjured a glass of cider. It had been a long day and it was about to get even longer.

The guards patrolling outside would expect her to stay in here for at least half an hour. The Escape Attempt Incident was high profile enough within the ranks of the Death Eaters that Regina wouldn't be surprised if a group of them her 'patrolling' the hall outside the cell right now. She certainly remembered passing at least six curious faces on her way down here.

With a flick of her wrist and a mumbled spell the room was silenced from any prying ears belonging to those faces.

"Why are you doing this, Regina?" Emma asked through clenched teeth.

Regina didn't answer until her cup was empty. "It's Warden now, try not to forget." She moved to sit cross-legged on Emma's cot with her back against the wall and magicked more cider into the glass.

Emma was pale. She looked like she was about to faint. Regina used her wand to lengthen the chains and Emma slowly sank to the floor at the foot of the cot. The hard ground was cushioned by a thick layer of hay. Regina guessed that this cell was used to store grain in its past life.

"Thanks." Emma said eying her warily from below.

Regina bit her tongue. She didn't want Emma to thank her for anything. "Shush, now. I'm going to pretend you're not here." She closed her eyes and was perfectly content to merely sit in silence. She'd count the minutes until it was appropriate to make her exit and then... then what?

'_Leave the planning for tomorrow,'_ She mused, '_Emma will surely find a way to screw it up anyway so for now: No plan, just silence.' _

Of course, silence could be considered a plan and if that were true then-

"I thought you were dead." Emma said, right on cue. Regina smirked to herself but kept her eyes closed. She rolled the glass tumbler between her palms before balancing it on her knee while Emma continued existing. She was speaking quietly but it felt -everything _felt_\- so loud and so complicated. None of this was supposed to happen. "I thought... because you went missing and I thought..."

Maybe she could try to convince Emma that she'd been hypnotized or that Voldemort used some kind of memory spell on her. Regina took a deep breath. A memory charm. Alright, that's good, it's safer for Emma than the truth. She opened her eyes, they met Emma's for the first time this evening, and the lie died on her lips.

"What would Daniel say if he saw you like this?" Oh that was low. Warranted, given the circumstances, but still very low. "Look, I'm sorry he's gone now but Daniel-"

Regina put up her hand, "-Don't. Don't even. You don't get to say his name, not after what your mother did." The rage was back, not as intense as before but building.

The blonde gaped at her, "You're going to blame my mother?"

"Yes!"

Emma scoffed, "The way I heard it, it was your mother who actually killed him."

There was no warning to it. One moment there was a cup in her hand then next shards of glass were falling into her lap and making tiny cuts in her hand. Neither of them bothered with it though. Most others would have flinched but this was Emma and Regina in the middle of an argument. "That never would have happened if your mother hadn't-"

"So you join the Death Eaters and give the woman who murdered your boyfriend exactly what she wants?" Emma brings her hands up to comb through her hair, "Regina what the hell are you doing? You're not a Death Eater!"

That was it. Who does this woman think she is? Telling Regina what she is and is not, knocking down walls and bringing up the past. "If I weren't a Death Eater would I have this?" Regina pulled up the sleeve covering her dark mark tattoo. "I'm embracing my destiny, dear. My lineage. This is in my blood!"

Emma shook her head as she stared at the inked in skull and snake incredulously. "I don't buy that Regina not for one second."

Curse Emma Swan-White. Curse her, her super power, and her shiny hair too. The Warden stood to tower over her captive. "Do not test me, Miss Swan, for your own safety."

The blonde quickly tired of craning her neck to look up. She rose to her feet with defiance radiating behind emerald green eyes. "Or what? You'll punish me?" Regina faltered, she didn't expect Emma to say that and she definitely didn't expect her body to react with arousal. She'd forgotten how much taller Emma was now and found herself eye level with the younger woman's lips.

Loathe as she was to display any sign of retreat Regina took a step back. She needed space to focus. Regina spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully. She reminded herself to speak only of things she truly believed, "You need to understand that I am not that girl anymore. That Regina Mills is dead. This is who I am now."


	8. Chapter 8

The Lioness and the Warden stood locked in a battle of wills. The only sound in the room came from the soft sizzling fire in the torch above them.

Emma was the first to break eye contact. She knew that those weren't lies but she still didn't feel right believing them. Regina's words, though true, didn't sit well with her. She pressed her palm to her forehead and dug her fingers into her hair. This was all too much.

Never in a million years would she have guessed that Regina Mills, her first crush, and the Warden were the same person. But here she was, alive and marked as one of Voldemort's followers. Emma hugged her arms to her stomach because despite the heated glares they'd been throwing back and forth she was still in a drafty dungeon cell wearing a sweat soaked tank top. Cold sweat.

Regina busied herself with magically healing her bloody hand. Emma winced, the broken glass had slipped her mind. She shouldn't have said those things. The dark haired woman's brow was set in concentration. Amber light danced across the room creating softening the shadows of Regina's face. Emma was sickened to admit that Regina had only grown more beautiful over the years. One thing did click into place though; Emma's sexually charged dreams as of late made a lot more sense now. Would she ever be over this impossible woman?

Once the glass shards were out of her hand Regina set about fitting the old storage room with the usual magical prison cell amenities. Emma observed her waving her wand around the room conjuring a toilet and sink to take care of her hygiene needs that appeared and disappeared depending upon necessity. A shower head appeared too. _'I would have tried to escape days ago if I knew I'd get the deluxe cell with an overhead shower upgrade'_ she thought.

These new cuffs around her wrists were bulkier than the old ones and the lock looked ancient. Emma's fingers danced over the links of her iron bindings as her mind drifted back to simpler times, before the end of her fourth year, when Voldemort hadn't risen from the dead right in front of Harry during the Triwizard Tournament. All she cared about back then was how tragically unfair it was that she had to say goodbye to the cute Beauxbatons girl that she'd made out with during the Yule ball. And now she couldn't even remember the girl's name.

Emma watched as Regina gently polished her already gleaming wand with a soft cloth. The action was so familiar. Something Regina used to do whenever she was nervous. Emma smirked. '_This isn't over,'_ she realized, '_I just need a different angle.'_

If the gate is locked; pick the lock. If you can't pick the lock; climb the wall. If you can't climb the wall; look for a hole.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Regina sounded irritated.

Emma tilted her head in speculation and said, "Crucio."

Nothing happened.

Regina lifted an eyebrow, "It appears wandless magic is not your forte."

The blonde shook her head, "That's not what I'm doing." Emma began counting off spells on her fingers, "Imperio. Impedimenta... Incarcerous!"

Regina was too perplexed to be annoyed now. "Now you're just listing spells that start with an I."

Once again Emma shook her head. "No. I'm listing all the spells you could have used against me in our duel." Emma had battled Death Eaters before. She was with Harry and the others during the Battle at the Ministry and dueled them again when they came to kill her parents for being Order members.

Emma knew one thing for certain; Regina may be marked as a Death Eater but she definitely did not duel like a Death Eater. "Crucio is every bad guy's default spell but instead you come at me with... what? Avis? Regina-"

"-Warden."

Emma ignored Regina's attempt at correcting her and pressed forward, "You had plenty opportunity to bring the hurt. But you didn't."

The dark haired woman twirled her wand in her hand. That meant Regina wanted her to think she was being nonchalant. "Criticizing my dueling methods, Miss Swan? You are bold." Emma was surprised Regina hadn't started inspecting her cuticles for imperfections by now.

"I'm also alive thanks to you." Emma pointed out. "You could have killed me."

"Beginning to regret that decision." Regina scrutinized the nail beds on her left hand.

A hearty laugh burst from Emma's mouth. Emma didn't need her super power to know what that was. "You're a liar Regina Mills. And the mask you're wearing right now is way easier to see through than the metal one." Emma leaned forward, took a risk and lightly gripped Regina's arm. "You're not as dead inside as you claim to be."

Light emanated from the wand in Regina's hand and the chains attached to the cuffs around Emma's wrists yanked her arms up. Emma's breath was knocked out of her as her back slammed against the wall. There was a wand at the base of her throat and a fire in Regina's eyes that could only be mirrored in intensity by Emma's. "I'd kill you right now if you-"

"-Then do it!" Emma exclaimed, cutting off the rest of Regina's threat. "What's stopping you from killing me?" She didn't wait for an answer because she already knew it. With every fiber of her being she knew and she'd wager her life on it. "Seriously, you want a reason to kill me? Fine. You were right, I've been lying this whole time and I have no idea who Madame Regal is." Emma paused to gauge Regina's reaction. Imperceptible didn't even begin to describe the look in her eyes. "You don't need me anymore. So, what are you waiting for?" She challenged.

The knuckles that gripped the wand at her throat were stark white. Emma felt a slight tremor run from Regina's hand up the shaft of the wand and press into her skin but she refused to even blink.

Finally, in true enigmatic fashion, Regina answered her question with a question. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Because I don't believe you when you say you've changed at all. I don't believe that, not for one second." Emma explained. "But do you want to know what I do believe in? You, Regina."

"I told you to stop calling me that." Regina reminded her irritatedly but the fact that she put the wand back into her coat pocket told a different story.

"No, Regina." Emma emphasized the woman's first name. This was becoming frustrating. "Your name is Regina. Regina, Regina, Regina!"

"Shut up!" Regina fiercely shouted as she shoved Emma against the wall. Both of Regina's open palms slapped the wall on either side of Emma. "Shut up." She reiterated.

Emma has never been very good at following orders. "You're not the Warden, you're not a Death Eater, you're just Regina!" Emma laughed softly, trying to ignore the heat of their bodies so tantalizingly close. "You like to paint and dance! Your favorite color is purple." She looked, really looked, at Regina this time. Her eyes, her nose, her lips. They were all the same. Emma noted that there was a scar that hadn't been there before and the spark of life that lit up her face as a teenager was smaller now, buried under years of pain and loss but it was still there. And maybe there was something else swirling in those chocolate depths, something that hadn't been there when Emma was thirteen but she'd always hoped to see one day.

Emma continued listing off all of the things that made the woman in front of her the friend she had those short few years ago. "You've never backed down from a challenge. You can tie more knots than a sailor but you didn't know how to use chopsticks until you were sixteen because I had to teach you. And... and you smell like lavender and apples... Regina Mills..."

"Warden. I'm-I'm the Warden." Regina choked out weakly.

"You're the best Chaser I've ever seen."

They were standing so close that all Emma would have had to do in order to kiss Regina is lean forward. So that is exactly what she did. Emma closed her eyes and she jumped -metaphorically- consequences be damned because Regina was alive and that fact hadn't fully struck her until just then. When their lips met it was not soft and tentative liked she'd fantasized about countless times in the middle of Potions class or as she watched the Chaser eating breakfast across the Great Hall.

Emma would be lying if she said she didn't expect Regina to instantaneously pull away. What she didn't anticipate was the exact opposite. Regina's body pressed into Emma's and the blonde felt demanding fingers weave themselves through her hair. Emma's hands, still bound above them, itched to take hold of the other woman. Emma put everything she felt into that kiss with her eyes shut tightly and heart pulsing.

The kiss deepened with the flick of a tongue on a bottom lip. Regina moaned lustfully into her mouth and with that sound the dark haired woman snapped back into her senses. Emma was clued into this fact by the shaky hands pushing her away, an action that didn't work out well for Regina because Emma was already pinned against the wall. She stumbled back covering her mouth with one of her hands, the other frantically grasping for the doorknob.

And then Emma was alone.


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm so very sorry it's been so long between updates. There was a scene in which I was really struggling with a few of the power dynamics between them. **

**I mean, what I had plotted when I started writing this fic didn't sit well with me so I had to cut and re-write A LOT.**

**Special thanks to JazzyBabe10, BearHugsBeerHugs, vxenasq, Half-In-Love-With and everyone over at SwenChat for beta-ing your feedback is so important and helpful to me, you have no idea! **

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Eluding someone is quite simple when the person you're avoiding is in a dungeon. The thought had occurred to Regina in the days that followed the kiss. Their kiss. Regina was still processing the alarming fact that she had shared a kiss with Emma. And what a _process_ it was.

The first stage had been to ignore it. Outright deny that it had even happened, but the persistent thought of the blondes lips refused to leave Regina in peace. Not when she was eating, reading, or walking past a certain cell. No peace from soft pink... Not for Regina Mills.

Secondly Regina had to stop calling it 'it' and come to terms with referring to it with the proper adult word. It was a kiss. Emma had kissed her.

At the third and most recent development of her 'processing' Regina had finally admitted that though Emma had made the first move, she had kissed back. _Enthusiastically_.

If someone had told her five years ago that one day she and Emma Swan-White would kiss and then _she_ would be the one who freaked out about the kiss and not Emma, Regina would have... She didn't know what she would do, it was too preposterous to even fathom because _of course_ she was aware of the crush the Gryffindor harbored for her. So logic would assume that if anyone was going to have a mild panic attack after something as trivial as a kiss between them it would be Emma.

This attraction was not a part of the plan.

The informant breathed in a lungful of the brisk night air afforded to her by the forest. She felt off-kilter. Had increasingly felt that way ever since a certain strikingly beautiful young woman barged back into her life. Loud, dangerous, and enticing beyond all reason.

The walk in the woods had helped Regina center herself. She'd left near lunch and was now returning shortly after sundown.

She needed to stay focused, she reminded herself as she climbed the stairwells toward her office. Regardless of the way she felt, the paramount issue of this whole matter was, Emma Swan being in this prison had brought Madame Regal's entire operation to a grinding halt. A fact that only served to reinforce Regina's vow to keep far, far away from Emma for as long as possible.

Then maybe after all of this was over, _if_ they both survived and _if_ she did her job right, Voldemort would be dead. She could free Emma, tell her the truth, and they could figure out whatever was going on between them. _Until then just stay away, it's for the best. _ Something easily achievable given their circumstances.

Regina entered her office, shut the door and turned around.

She should have known not to underestimate a lioness.

A golden haired figure emerged from beneath her desk, "I can't help but feel like you're avoiding me."

Instinctively Regina's hand grasped her wand but once she knew who her uninvited guest was, she let it go. "Emma? What? How did you-"

The Gryffindor proudly puffed out her chest but her smile was all Mona Lisa; mature and secretive yet cheerful. "Oh please, give me some credit." Emma seated herself on Regina's chair and casually propped her feet on the polished mahogany surface. Childish but definitely not a child anymore. "Lions were never meant to be caged." Emma sagely noted as she laced her fingers together behind her head to get comfortable. As if breaking out of prison and then into the warden's office was a common occurrence for her.

Regina had the sense to lock the door behind her. On one hand she could call for a guard, she should do that actually, but bringing to attention a _second_ escape would not put her in a good light among her 'peers'. There was another reason that Regina didn't want to alert the rest of the Death Eaters of course but she didn't want to think about that at the moment. "Why are you in my office right now?" She made her way further into the room.

The escape artist had the audacity to chuckle. "Actually I didn't know this was your office at first. I got a little lost trying to find the exit." _Oh, what a happy accident._ Regina thought sarcastically. Her heart skipped a beat as she watched Emma toss an artifact up in the air and catch it like a toddler-sized toy Quaffle. That Egyptian Pharaoh's Stone was almost as expensive as it was ancient!

Agitated at the flippant disregard for her possessions, Regina caught the stone on the third toss before Emma accidentally activated it and put them both to sleep. She glared down at the young woman but her quiet disapproval was met with a charmingly mischievous smirk.

"This is a really comfortable chair. Is this real Jabberwock leather?" Emma ran her hands along the arm rests. "I feel so powerful! Like I finally understand hunting."

Then Regina noticed what Emma was wearing, "Is that my shirt?" She hardly recognized the silky blue fabric because it fit Emma's frame so differently. The blonde also sported it untucked and sans steam press.

Emma nodded. "My clothes had pit stains."

"How?"

"Well when one wears the same outfit for whatever amount of days I've been locked up-"

"How did you get my shirt?" Regina elaborated.

The glint in Emma's eyes let Regina know that the blonde had known what she meant the entire time. Smart ass. "Well, your office is connected to your quarters." Emma pointed to the door that separated them from her bedroom. "I also got lost in your wardrobe... and your bathtub." The way she said bathtub was entirely too suggestive.

Regina _so_ did not need to know that Emma had been naked in her chambers. "Oh Merlin... Remove yourself from my seat, Miss Swan." She commanded with as much authority as she could muster. The situation had become too surreal. They were acting as though they weren't on opposing sides of a war. They weren't, not truly, but Emma certainly did not know that. She shouldn't know because no one was supposed to know. '_It puts her at a greater risk.' _

Emma seated herself on the desk and Regina observed that the blonde had also helped herself to a pair of her linen dress pants. '_I bet she made a joke about getting into my pants before she put them on.' _Regina intuited. A part of her wanted to roll her eyes but another almost laughed at the ridiculousness.

Unaware of how spot on Regina's inner musings were, Emma interrupted them with an uncharacteristically serious question. "Do you remember what you said to me about your mother when we first met?" Regina tilted her head but said nothing. "You said you weren't like her." Emma answered for her. "I believed you then." Emma's hands gripped the edge of the desk on both sides of her thighs. Her sleeves were rolled down but the blouse was too short for her arms and Regina could see the red tinged indents and small cuts on her wrists in the places where the cuffs were too tight.

_My fault._ Her stomach lurched and bile rose up in her throat.

"I still believe it now." Emma said as she -tentatively this time- placed a hand on Regina's forearm.

Regina still had not taken her eyes from the marks on Emma's wrist. "You shouldn't."

"I have a habit doing things I shouldn't to do." Emma countered with her most uplifting smile. "For example, I shouldn't replace the Slytherin's Quidditch broomsticks with _actual_ broomsticks."

Regina was jarred from her downward spiral into self-deprecation, she blinked up at the blonde, "I heard about that! Mother was livid. That was you?"

Emma nodded, so proud of herself, "I also shouldn't have broken out of Gryffindor Tower in the middle of the night more times I can remember to count."

"That's not saying much though considering your retention capacity." Regina teased, a small smile tugged at her lips.

The blonde cupped a hand to her ear and leaned forward in mock-confusion, "What was that?" Regina caught a whiff of her own Honey Apple shampoo in Emma's hair. She was also acutely aware of the heat emitting from Emma's hand on her forearm, "Sorry I couldn't hear you over how awesome I am."

That time Regina did roll her eyes. "Nothing. Go back to your bragging." She bit her tongue lightly to hold back the laughter bubbling up from within.

"Yes. Let's see, shouldn't... shouldn't." Emma shut her eyes in concentration for a second and then they popped open, emerald green flecked with gold and mirthful, "I shouldn't take myself on unsupervised field trips through the Forbidden Forest. But I mean, come on, calling something 'Forbidden' only makes me want to find out what about it is so Forbidden in the first place." Emma shrugged, leaning even more so into Regina's personal space, "I get curious!"

Regina shook her head, "You get in trouble."

"I like trouble." Emma whispered into Regina's ear, coaxing a shudder. The Gryffindor pulled back slightly as Regina turned to face her. Their eyes locked for a beat and Regina tried to look away but her gaze only landed on Emma's lips. This was wrong, she needed to stop this.

"I shouldn't bring contraband to lessons." Emma spoke softly. Her free hand rose to twirl an errant lock of Regina's hair. "And I definitely shouldn't _use_ said contraband _during_ lessons."

"You shouldn't kiss people that don't want to be kissed." Regina blurted out but the way her voice cracked betrayed her. Lying, she used to be good at it.

Emma didn't move any closer. She breathed and simply waited until Regina could meet her eyes again before she stated with an honest unwavering clarity, "I've never done that before."

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**Notes:**

**There is no such thing as an Egyptian Pharaoh's Stone in the Harry Potter universe as far as I know. I just made it up.**

**Also did you know that (according to Wikipedia) the Egyptians had 'Sleep Temples' aka 'Dream Temples'?**


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